


So strange a thing

by Lleu



Category: Dragonriders of Pern - Anne McCaffrey
Genre: First Kiss, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-27
Updated: 2015-06-27
Packaged: 2018-04-06 12:10:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4221246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lleu/pseuds/Lleu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>     <i>It is so simple and so strange a thing</i><br/>     <i>That you have whispered what I may not sing.</i></p><p>Jaxom is tired of condescension and polite, knowing smiles — he's done putting up with it from Lord Holders, and he's <i>certainly</i> not going to put up with it from <i>Piemur</i>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	So strange a thing

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to [Tequila_Mockingbird](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Tequila_Mockingbird/pseuds/Tequila_Mockingbird) for betaing. Title and epigram from Richmond Lattimore's "Sonnet", from _Hanover Poems_ (1927).

Jaxom is tired of condescension and polite, knowing smiles — he's done putting up with it from Lord Holders, and he's _certainly_ not going to put up with it from _Piemur_.

But that's exactly what he gets the first time he catches Piemur staring at him in the cove.

"What?" Jaxom asks.

"Nothing," Piemur says, but he's smiling exactly the way some of the older Lord Holders do when they're talking down to Jaxom. It isn't just that he's only seventeen; Lord Groghe doesn't talk to him that way, and if anyone were going to condescend to him because of his age, it would be the Fort Lord Holder. It's the smile of someone who thinks they know better than Jaxom.

And if Piemur is anything like the Lord Holders, it would be pointless to try to call him out on it.

So Jaxom says nothing. Either it will stop, or he'll catch Piemur at it again.

As it happens, a few days later, he _does_ catch Piemur doing it again.

"You’re staring," Jaxom says, catching Piemur's eye and holding it.

"No, I'm not," Piemur says, but his face turns slightly red.

"I thought Harpers were supposed to be smooth-tongued," Jaxom teases. "Or didn't they teach you anything at the Hall?"

Piemur opens his mouth to say something, then closes it and shakes his head.

"Firelizard got your tongue?"

"All right, I was staring," Piemur says. "Happy?"

"Why?" Jaxom asks.

"Never you mind," Piemur says, and then he's bustling off to work on his maps for Master Robinton. Jaxom stifles a sigh of exasperation.

After that, he resolves to keep a closer eye on Piemur, since there's obviously something going on.

Soon he has made several observations. First, Piemur watches him a lot. Now that Jaxom is paying closer attention, he notices him doing it all the time. Practically every time he looks at the other young man, Piemur's looking back at him, but as soon as Jaxom tries to catch his eye, he looks away.

Second, Piemur doesn't watch Sharra. Part of him thinks he should be relieved by this, but somehow he isn't. If anything, it makes Piemur's staring even more unnerving. It also makes him wonder what the other young man is looking at. Or, perhaps, looking for.

Third, once you start watching someone it's difficult to stop. Jaxom finds himself looking reflexively at the other young man as Piemur goes about his daily business. Sometimes they both turn to look at each other at the same time and both simultaneously, comically, turn quickly away.

A few days later, when Piemur turns to look at Jaxom and finds Jaxom already looking at him, he turns the tables: "You're staring."

"No I wasn't," Jaxom says, looking quickly away.

"Yes, you were," Piemur says. "Don't they teach manners up in Ruatha?"

"You started it," Jaxom points out. That silences Piemur, but only for a moment.

"Look, we'll make a deal," Piemur says. "I won't stare at you if you won't stare at me."

"Who’s staring?" Sharra asks, dusting off her hands as she emerges from their makeshift shelter.

"No-one," Jaxom and Piemur both say at the same time, and Jaxom turns away quickly so neither of them will see that he's blushing. He's not sure why he is.

 _I know_ , Ruth says. _And you know. But you do not want to know_. Jaxom doesn't know what to say to that.

He still can't stop himself from looking at Piemur.

One evening, they're lounging on the beach after an afternoon of swimming (nothing too intense: as Sharra reminds them frequently, Jaxom is still recovering). Sharra has left them alone to bathe in private.

"Why _were_ you looking at me?" The words are out of Jaxom's mouth before he can realize it and stop them.

"What?" Piemur asks. Jaxom turns to look at him directly; Piemur studiously avoids making eye contact.

"Before," Jaxom says. "You know, when we agreed not to stare at each other anymore."

"Oh, that," Piemur says. Jaxom waits for him to continue, but he doesn't.

"Come on," Jaxom says. "You can't just say, 'Oh, that,' and then not go on to explain."

"Fine." Piemur sighs. "I was staring because I was trying to figure out what kind of man you are. Or what kind of man you're going to be. What kind of dragon-riding Lord Holder you're going to be."

"Well?" Jaxom asks, curiosity piqued. "What have you figured out, then?"

Piemur looks at him directly for a moment, then turns to stare out at the water of the cove. "That you're very handsome and will, I imagine, break a lot of hearts in Ruatha when you announce your engagement with Sharra."

"What?" Jaxom is honestly confused. "Sharra and I aren’t engaged."

"Not yet, maybe," Piemur says. "But I've seen the way the two of you act; it's only a matter of time."

"That's — there's —" He breaks off, then tries again. "There's nothing going on between me and Sharra."

Piemur looks at him, clearly skeptical. "Really."

"Really," Jaxom insists. "She's very nice, and beautiful, I suppose, but we're just friends."

"Beautiful, you suppose." This time it's Jaxom’s turn to look away. "Jaxom." Jaxom says nothing, but turns back to look at Piemur. "Why were _you_ looking at _me_?"

"To find out why you were looking at me, obviously," Jaxom says, perhaps slightly too glibly.

The corner of Piemur's mouth twitches with amusement. "Is that the only reason?"

Jaxom doesn't have an answer. Then Piemur leans across the distance between them and kisses his cheek. When he pulls away, Jaxom puts a hand up to touch the place where Piemur's lips were.

"That’s why I was looking at you," Piemur says. "I hope you won't be offended."

Jaxom searches for words. "Of...no, of course not."

"I had hoped..." Piemur begins, then trails off, shaking his head. "I should really go get some more wood for the fire."

He starts to stand, but Jaxom puts a hand on his shoulder to stop him. "Piemur."

Piemur looks at him, and there's hurt in his eyes, though he's trying his best to hide it.

He hears Ruth's voice again: _You know_. And he does.

So he leans across the distance between them and kisses Piemur on the lips. There's no sudden surge of emotion, no burst of dragonfire in his heart, but still, this feels right.

When he pulls away, it's Piemur's turn to reach up, disbelieving, to touch his own lips.

"You're handsome, too, you know," Jaxom says, after a moment. "Maybe everyone should try wandering across the Southern Continent."

"I..." Piemur starts, then stops. Then he laughs. "That's twice you've had me at a loss for words, Lord Jaxom."

Jaxom laughs, too, and _now_ there's something in his chest, something light and carefree and good. He kisses Piemur again; this time, Piemur kisses him back.

 _I told you_ , Ruth says, only slightly smug.

 _Yes, you did_ , Jaxom says, smiling into the kiss. _You were right. I did know. And so, it seems, did Piemur_.

"What?" Piemur asks, sensing Jaxom's amusement.

"Nothing," Jaxom says. "Ruth. You. Everything."

Then he laughs again, and soon Piemur's laughing, too. That's how Sharra finds them when she gets back.

"What's the joke?" she asks, amused at their good humor.

"Nothing," Jaxom says.

"'Ruth. You. Everything,'" Piemur echoes, and then they're both laughing again. Sharra shakes her head wearily and leaves them to it.


End file.
